Yuck - Yuck

You know Nirvana, right? You've heard Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth? You have a Teenage Fanclub album or two in your collection? You might even call yourself a Guided By Voices fan. Or maybe Jesus & Mary Chain?

Yes? Then you probably don't need Yuck's self-titled debut album at all. Because everything you'll find here has been done before, and better by those groups.

That said though, there are things to like about this London-based group, provided you're able to listen to the songs on their own merits, and not just hear them as echoes of some greater past.

The Saw Doctors - The Further Adventures Of The Saw Doctors

Already well into the third decade of their existence, The Saw Doctors might be forgiven for coasting at this stage of their career. Their seventh studio album released at the end of last month puts paid to that idea though, The Further Adventures Of The Saw Doctors sees the Irish rockers recapturing some of their finest form of the last 24 years.

The Saw Doctors occupy a bit of a strange position amongst music fans, they are regarded by many as a bit of a joke, long past their sell-by-date, but on the other hand they enjoy a large, fairly rabid fanbase. And you sense that neither viewpoint has a great deal to do with their recorded output, with their detractors more concerned with the band's deeply uncool image, while the fanatics rave more about their renowned live performances. Perhaps that's why this is only album number seven in 24 years.

Manic Street Preachers - Postcards From A Young Man

A new Manic Street Preachers album is a bit of a trepidatious experience for me these days. I've been disappointed by them before, but I always want to love them. As a skinny, vaguely alternative kid in 1990s Cardiff, I grew up with the Manics. Gold Against the Soul was one of the first albums I ever bought, my first girlfriend was a rabid, feather-boa toting Manics fan, and as a result I think they are still the band I have seen live most often.

Postcards From A Young Man is probably the first Manic Street Preachers album release I've been excited about since Know Your Enemy, after the overly commercial missteps of Everything Must Go and This Is My Truth... that album promised a lot, but largely failed to deliver. Postcards though has been trailed by a great single, and promises to walk the line between the radio-friendly epic rock Of Everything Must Go, and the more outré personal/political stuff of Holy Bible. It's a high risk high-wire act, but if they pull it off...

Manic Street Preachers - Postcards From A Young Man Out September 20th

The Manic Street Preachers return with their 10th studio album later this month, in the form of the rather wistful sounding Postcards From A Young Man. Described by Nicky Wire as "one last shot at mass communication" and an attempt to "infiltrate the mainstream", it sounds like they are pitching this one quite explicitly to attract a wide audience.

The lead single (It's Not War) Just The End Of Love has certainly been getting a fair amount of radio airtime, so it seems they may achieve that audience. End of Love has a kind of old time rock'n'roll vibe that harks back to their Generation Terrosists material, but with a definite radio-friendly sheen to it as well.

Postcards From A Young Man was recorded in Cardiff with long-term Manics producer Dave Eringa, and includes guest appearances by Ian McCulloch (Echo & the Bunnymen), John Cale and ex-Guns 'n' Roses bassist Duff McKagan.

Keep your eyes peeled for Popsiculture's verdict nearer release.

John Mellencamp - No Better Than This

John Mellencamp, who turns 59 later this year, has been making this brand of American country-blues-tinged rock music since the mid seventies. In 2008 he was inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, where he joined some of his major influences, the likes of Robert Johnson, Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, as well as contemporaries like Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty. The only question is why did it take them so long to recognise him? Anyway, the point is Mellencamp has pedigree. And he has nothing left to prove.

With that in mind, perhaps, he's released No Better Than This, an album of new material recorded as live, using all vintage gear, and with little or no post-production. The story of the album, then, is as much about its recording as it is its music; the album is a statement (from a lesser man it could be a called gimmick). But don't worry on that front. Mellencamp's songwriting talent shows no absolutely signs of diminishing. The result is an absolutely timeless album. No Better Than This could literally have been recorded at any time in the last 60 years, and in any era it would have been received as a triumph.

Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier

Iron Maiden's The Final Frontier hits the ground not only running, but kicking and screaming. Ten tracks of pure adrenaline are simply guaranteed to please fans - and if you've never owned any Maiden, why not start now, so you don't feel out of place among other people who just call them Maiden? Enough people will be talking about this album for some time to come that you could probably blag your way to a status as a 'proper fan' without actually knowing any of Maiden's previous work.

If you do already own everything that's come before, and you're wondering whether this can possibly live up to it - well, you don't get to be one of the world's greatest rock groups by a single half-decent effort. Maiden continue to put the Iron in Metal (see what I did there? You can have that one for the pub...) and are well deserving of support from all comers - new or old. Read on for my personal picks of the best tracks, and the final verdict.

Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Rush to Relax

Melbourne garage rockers Eddy Current Suppression Ring released their third album Rush to Relax in the UK this week. Despite achieving a level of recognition, and garnering plenty of critical acclaim, in their native Australia, Eddy Current Suppression Ring aren't well known in these parts. Rush to Relax is unlikely to be troubling the upper reaches of the charts on these shores, but I for one was delighted when I heard that Manchester record label Melodic were giving the album a proper release.

Much has been made of the fact that Eddy Current Suppression Ring (ECSR from here on in) are a such an Australian band, and it is with good reason. Lead singer Brendan Suppression's vocals are always delivered in a broad, distinctive Australian drawl, but it goes deeper than just accents. ECSR's major influences might be American garage rockers (think Stooges, MC5, etc) but the band gives them a typically relaxed Antipodean twist. Rush to Relax is a case in point, the band recorded it all in around six hours, usually using the first or second take of each song in an attempt to capture the energy of the performance. It's an incredibly casual approach, and a risky one too, which lays the band open to accusations of laziness if the album isn't up to scratch.

Sound of Guns - What Came From Fire

It's been a big year for Liverpool's Sound of Guns. A breakthrough set at last year's Radio One Big Weekend, an appearance in the Guardian's 'New Band of the Day' series, and tips for big things from Q Magazine, and Rocksound have all contributed to the buzz ahead of their debut album What Came From Fire.

Comparisons to global superstar stadium rockers U2 have become obligatory when describing SoG's sound, and the parallels are certainly there to be hear. Big reverbed guitars, soaring rock vocals, and a penchant for the epic.

First single Architects was released on the 21st June, preceeding the album by a week, and it's a perfect example of what SoG are all about. The sheer scale of Archtitects is impressive, it's a song designed to blast out to a stadium full of fans.